Battleship
A Battleship is an alien spacecraft in XCOM: Enemy Unknown. A true capital ship, a Battleship does not land; it can, however, be engaged and brought down by Interceptors. __TOC__ Attempting to bring down a Battleship with a Raven is tough, requiring both Dodge and Aim power ups as well as being armed with either a Plasma or an EMP Cannon - even then, a Raven can still fail every now and then (often by being shot down). A Firestorm armed with an EMP Cannon is an ideal choice, as it is fast enough to close the gap and durable enough to withstand counter-fire. Even on Easy, a Firestorm may take greater than 50% damage during the interception. Battleships have a very large crew, of 23 and above, and are thus well-defended. Muton and Floater aliens of all types are commonly encountered, with the varieties scaled toward harder versions. Sectopods and their attendant Drones should be expected; even on Easy, up to two Sectopods, each with two Drones, are typically encountered. Shooting down Battleships is the only way to acquire the Fusion Cores required for the construction of Blaster Launchers, unless the Slingshot DLC is installed. Bradford's introduction: "Commander, you should take a look at this. We've just detected a massive new contact... We're picking up an enormous power signature. Whatever it is, it must be fully loaded. We should expect heavy resistance." Bradford's introduction (if a UFO is ignored; satellite detected): "We're picking up a new contact, and it's generating a strange signal... almost like it's scanning for something." Encounters Battleships are always encountered in the air when detected by Satellite in flight, and never on the ground, unless shot down by interceptors. In Flight Battleships begin to randomly turn up as UFO encounters as early as month four. A more reliable method of acquiring a Battleship encounter is to ignore UFO landing missions or Scouts, resulting in one of these ships turning up to destroy a satellite. Be warned that this method can have adverse effects on panic levels if the interception fails. The Council will also give less than an A rating in the monthly report for letting the smaller vessel get away (and ignoring the fact the player baited and caught a far bigger fish). *In XCOM: Enemy Within, if the player has been farming multiple Battleships with the above method, some ships may not contain Meld containers. It is unknown if this is a bug. Layout Unlike all other UFO Crash Sites, a ground force raid on a Battleship does not require searching for the wreck; the Skyranger will drop the squad on top of the ship near an entry door. For reference, this entrance will be considered to be heading west. This door leads to a small entry corridor which widens shortly, ending in another door. The first defenders may be encountered in this corridor, typically Mutons. The door at the end of the corridor leads to a central room. Cover is plentiful, but resistance will be at range, at least initially. Floaters will rush the squad, so maintaining cover while responding with rifle fire is most effective. Securing this room establishes a beachhead. Smaller, ancillary areas branch off to the north and east. These areas are sparse and confined by the map edges, and may not contain any aliens. These areas should be investigated and cleared, but the squad's major axis of advance will be west, recognizable by 3 raised platforms that seem to serve as watchtowers. The watchtowers overlook a medium sized deck to the west containing one UFO Power Source. More Mutons typically defend this deck, although the full cover afforded by hiding behind the watchtowers typically give any enemies found in this area a disadvantage. The tops of two of the watchtowers are accessible by gravlifts that can be used by the player's soldiers to gain the Elevated Ground aim bonus. This deck funnels into a pair of west-leading corridors. The squad may be split to cover both corridors, but can also be sent into a single corridor to maximize firepower and minimize flank vulnerabilities. More enemies may be encountered here. While the roofs of these corridors can be Grappled onto to execute surprise drops onto enemies below, interface problems make such a maneuver more trouble than it is worth. These pair of corridors each end in a door, which both lead to a single large, open deck with 2 UFO Power Sources. This is where the bulk of the defenders -- and the Sectopods -- are typically stationed. Each door leading to the deck is an indestructible full cover choke point, and players should position most of the team behind them, drawing out alien groups one at a time to avoid being overwhelmed. Ramps at the side of the corridors lead to elevated firing positions of the open deck, including the highest platforms, one on each side where the Fusion Cores are located. These highest platforms can be used by Squadsight Snipers as Sniper nests, and players wanting to take advantage of them should move their Snipers into position before opening the doors. Once this mid-deck has been secured, proceeding west will take the squad to a very large door leading to an apparent control area where the last UFO power source, and Outsiders or an equivalent based on how far through the story the player has progressed are located. Be wary as there may still be more than one (one being the ship commander) group of aliens in this area. Squad Strategy Raiding forces will encounter stiff and plentiful resistance aboard a Battleship. Due to the numerous battles, a highly trained Field Medic is a must to keep the team in top form between fights. Heavies with HEAT Ammo are useful for taking down mechanical enemies, and the large number of enemies lead to many opportunities to use a Rocket to full effect. Snipers have value in at least two sections of the ship, so a well-trained Sniper can be valuable. Otherwise, a blend of Assault and Support troops is warranted. Avoid bringing more than one shotgun; enemies found in a Battleship should typically be engaged at range to avoid triggering more of them. Pistols are largely irrelevant except to Snipers. Prepare for anti-Sectopod warfare; multiple Sectopods may be encountered on a Battleship. The best armor protection available should be used, ideally Titan or Ghost Armor. Archangel Armor has some use, but players will still find themselves having to frequently reposition their Squadsight Sniper between combat areas. Psionic soldiers with Mind Control help a lot (especially on Impossible). You can pick aliens one by one and either scout with them or have their buddies kill them. Load * Aliens: 22-29 * 2 Fusion Cores * 4 UFO Flight Computers * 4 UFO Power Sources * ~100 Elerium * ~250 Alien Alloys Trivia Neither the Battleship nor the Temple Ship have an exterior model and were designed as entire levels by themselves. Both have FMV models though. Gallery XEU Battleship concept art.jpg|Concept Art File:XCOM(EU)_Battleship.png|A downed Battleship burns XCOM-EU - Battleship attacking the city.jpg|A Battleship making a low pass over a city XCOM-EU Alien Aircraft - Battleship2.jpg|A Battleship over a city Category:Alien ships (XCOM: Enemy Unknown) Category:Aircraft (XCOM: Enemy Unknown)